Earlier in the day my wife emailed to say she won 2 tickets to the movie RED. I didn't think anything of it, because at first, I didn't hear anything about the movie, and I've been to the theatre it was playing at dozens of times; so the night wasn't going to be a new experience, it was just going to be another lovely night with my wife. Let me get this out there too, I've been on this new thing the past few years where I try and not know anything about a movie, that way when I get to see it, its like a surprise.
But, the night was different the moment I walked in the movie theatre, the ticket seller took our double postcard size tickets and asked us where we would like to sit, while presenting us a layout of our theatre on a 12" blue screen that laid in front of us. The seller highlighted 2 seats with his touchscreen; we weren't happy with the seats he had chosen for us, so we asked for a different set of seats, a pair on the other side of the theatre and about half way down. After a bit more thinking, we switched back to the set he picked, seemed this new feature of airplane like selection brought on too many choices to make a easy decision while on the spot. The seller handed us the official tickets and we were making our way towards the red rope, but not before I told the seller that this was a "classy experience." He laughed...
Through the red ropes, under the banner draped entrance and cutting through the aroma of fresh paint. We were definitely walking into a brand new not-a-single-popcorn-kernel-on-the-floor space. The theatre was beautiful, I felt like I was walking into the control deck of the Star Trek Enterprise. Just needed to order "Take us away Commander"....after a quick look around to take in the new setup, we made our way up the far stairs and to our seats.
My isle was The Nile, I couldn't believe the amount of real estate I had, I knew when I come back I'd probably be paying a bit more for my ticket then I normally would for a seat. But it made sense though... wouldn't it be better to fit one less row of people, and offer your customers more comfort. Because really, how often is the movie theatre completely packed that you can't afford to sacrifice a few spaces which is taken up by stragglers anyways. Brilliant thinking Cineplex! I know you must've cut like 5 rows to get the space that you are offering us, but you know we'll gladly pay for the comfort. Speaking of comfort, the seats were nice, I'm the type that prefers a hard bed, a hard seat, hard pillow so this was nice; also I really loved the fabric, a nice vinyl material that felt more like tightly stretched leather. I'm really glad they didn't choose fabric, because I don't think it fabric really ever gets cleaned. Sitting on those fabric chairs, there was always a bit of doubt that would linger in the back of my mind, usually between creeped out stickiness and weird dark stain on the chair thoughts. This time it was great, they had a bit of a lean-back setup to it, I'm not sure why you'd ever use it to lean back, just for it to automatically spring you back upright again, well i guess for anxiety relief during a really good suspense movie.
The sound system was all Bose, the speakers definitely were all about substance over size, but there was a lot of them and with the brand, when I saw the brand, I knew I was up for a great surround sound experience.
EasyRock 102.3 FM was hosting the pre-screening for the movie, RED, you'd figure for being one of the first 100 people in Edmonton to experience this new UltraAVX technology that they'd set out a few roman candles, maybe some wine and cheese at the least. Come on! Let's celebrate this new Edmonton attraction; sadly they handed the microphone over to one of Cineplex's representatives where she talked, then tested the audience on facts about this UltraAVX theatre. I did throw up my hands twice, but then didn't bother after I saw she was just giving cheap posters promoting that promoted the movie. Now if it were a t-shirt, maybe I would've put my hand up the 3rd time...
The visual experience was great though! I thought 3D was a vibrant experience, but this UltraAVX screen was so bright and crisp that it almost looked as if it were 3D, and objects jump right out of the screen when they played the promotional video for the Cineplex UltraAVX technology. Awe-inspiring for sure, which sparked me to uttered a slow woooow, I had a similar experience the time I saw Avatar as my first 3D movie, this was the same, just without the need for 3D glasses. The screen was enormous too, it filled the entire wall of the room, edge to edge; i didn't think it would make that much of a difference by removing the black frame, but it enhanced the experience, by pulling you into the movie.
I've never seen such video clarity that was so darn large and with seats so spacious. I did the couples test too, I tried to snuggle with my wife in various ways, and the arm support height, spacing, rear tilt and leg room made getting close no problem at all. This is important to me, as I'm sure a lot of other people, because this is a theatre that could be a second or third date location, (after the first, because you'd want to at least spend time talking with them). Also a few other things I thought were really cool was the ability to pre purchase your seat location over the web, it definitely brings back that "night out" experience back to the theatres.
Great work Cineplex, just wish I got to see "Watchmen" in this theatre. This isn't really a review about the movie RED, but it was a good movie, be sure to take your parents they'd like it too.
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Here's some locations on where you can check out the Cineplex AVX theatres.
Cineplex Odeon Queensway Cinemas
1025 The Queensway (at Islington)
Toronto, ON
SilverCity CrossIron Mills & XSCAPE Entertainment Centre
261055 CrossIron Blvd (at CrossIron Mills)
Calgary, AB
Cineplex Odeon South Edmonton
1525-99th Street NW
Edmonton, AB
Cineplex Odeon North Edmonton
14231-137th Avenue
Edmonton, AB
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